Sunday, February 14, 2010

My Craft Space - Part 1

Well I did it - I started to clean my craft space - my desk at least! Can't rush these things you know and especially when they are as disorganised as mine currently is!

As I clean and sort my craft space I thought I would share it with you here, and a few of my organisational elements that I find work for me and maybe can help others out there who experience the procrastination and disorganisation that I recently have.

Firstly, here is my craft desk - even my husband commented on how clean it was and he could actually see the table!

My Craft Desk(side view)

My space is actually a walk through area from one part of our home to an extension that was put on. It used to be the baby's room and then my son's room when he was little until we made the extension and knocked part of the wall out (which you can just see behind my chair) - the door frame just visible to the right (behind the desk lamp arm) leads in to a bedroom. The white panel you can see on the right-side of the photo is part of our linen cupboard. So you can see my desk fits nicely into this space and holds my most used items within easy reach - well that is the intention anyway!

My Craft Desk(front view)

My desk is wide enough to hold six A4 sized Desk Tidy Drawers (bought from Big W) side by side and still allowing me a comfortable space in front to craft/design etc. I also have three other Desk Tidy Drawers placed on top of the outside ones, the middle ones have my laptop and printer on top. Going around from left to right when I am sitting at my desk you can see my well stocked Color Caddy (sorted by Colour Familes and including several In Color and Neutral ink pads), on the wall is a kitchen tidy rack (bought from Ikea) that holds some punches and some spools of ribbon (other ribbon is stored in a deep drawer of one of the Desk Tidy Drawer units) and on the back wall is another two racks of punches (which I use constantly) which are basic towel rails (bought from a hardware store). My Desk Tidy Drawers are mostly labelled and store my Stampin' Up! A4 cardstock (see photos below), adhesives, cutting tools, embelishments, ribbons, embossing equipment etc as well as two sets of drawers to hold my current business stationery, brochures, orders etc.

As you can also see my laptop sits on top of one set of Desk Tidy Drawers and from this I can easily update my blog, blog surf and get inspiration from others online, check my emails, prepare workshop materials etc. Next to my laptop is my basic printer (frustrating that it won't feed through cardstock other than Whisper White and Very Vanilla!) and on top of this I sit my keyboard so I can take it down on to my desk where I craft to type rather than use the laptop's keyboard which is not in easy reach!

Punch Storage

I need another idea for my smaller punches, although these are generally stored in my craft tote, and which I will share my organisation of in another post about my craft space.

A4 Cardstock

My packs of A4 Cardstock are stored in individual drawers, appropriately labelled - yes I have a labelling problem! I also have individual drawers for the current In Colors, Whisper White, Glossy White, Very Vanilla and one for Neutrals - which includes Basic Black, Kraft, Grey etc. In these drawers I store full A4 sheets, long length off-cuts, and the larger off-cuts. For the small scraps and pieces left over when crafting I store in clear plastic cases again labelled by Colour Familes.

Scrap Pieces of Cardstock (sorted by colour families)

Another organisational element that I really like for items I regularly use - my dauber storage!

Again my labelling issue comes in to play as each dauber is individually labelled by the corresponding ink colour used and is stored in colour families within a divided craft caddy (bought at Chickenfeed). Currently I don't have a full set for Bold Brights (just the main colours I use) but I do have a full set for Rich Regals, Earth Elements and Soft Subtles. I also have one section for Neutrals/In Colors that I regularly use. I made an index to go inside the caddy's cover to indicate where each dauber is stored, but if you look closely you will see that when the caddy is closed the dauber colour from the opposite end actually leaves different ink on the one that I had daubered over its corresponding name eg Chocolate Chip dauber makes a mark over the Garden Green index name and colour and vice versa. I tried storing my daubers up the opposite way and thought this may also help in getting them out but for some reason they do not fit as easily that way around. So I just leave it as is and it works for me anyway!

Dauber Storage

Well I hope you have enjoyed seeing the first part of my Craft Space and organisational tips and as I sort out the rest of my space I will share that with you as well. You haven't yet seen what is under the desk! Or on the other side of this walkway area where I have yet another two cupboards (three if I count the old build-in cupboard space) in which my craft items/stamps/scrapbooking supplies etc are stored. I know I have a lot of stuff but who doesn't when they have an addiction/hobby/business (whatever you call it) and enjoy it as much as I do!

Feel free to leave comments about my craft space, share your personal tips and ideas for keeping your area organised and functional or leave a link to photos of your space if you have them available - I love to hear and see what you have to share and thanks for dropping by!